Stone Town

It takes almost 3hrs to explore the fascinating history of this extraordinary town. Zanzibar is a cosmopolitan island and in Stone Town you can see the historic influence of Indians, Chinese, Oman Arabs, Phoenicians, Sumerians, Persians, Assyrians, Portuguese, Egyptians, Dutch and British cultures, all combined with typical African traditions.

The Arab tradition is predominant in the urban design and architecture of Stone Town. The most impressive and admirable residential structures in town are the large Arab houses with a central courtyard.

Mangapwani Caves

Mangapwani Slave Cave is not natural, but cut out of the coral limestone. It is a sort of cellar, more or less a square-shaped cell which was built by slave trader for storing slaves. Boats landed here to unload their human “cargo”.

In 1873 Sultan Barghash signed the Anglo-Zanzibari treaty which officially abolished the slave trade. Today, the cave itself remains, although the wooden roof under which the slaves were hidden has now gone.

Nungwi Village Tour

A full day excursion to the extreme north of the island where you can visit the Portuguese ruins at Nungwi Village.

There are number of interesting things to see and do including touring the traditional fishing village itself with resident speaking a peculiar Swahili. You will also get to experience the turtle aquarium, traditional boat yard and a local market.

After a long day you relax or swim in the sea and also have a chance to taste local delicacies or international food.

Zanzibar Cultural Tour

This tour gives you an insight into the traditional Swahili life style. We start the tour by seeing how the world famous Zanzibar doors are crafted in the workshop. We then proceed north, up to Mkokotoni which is the most famous fishing village in Zanzibar. Afterwards, you proceed to Nungwi Village where we see how the wooden dhows and boats are built. Then we stay in the beach and enjoy a swim in the sea.

Spice Tour

This is the tour which will demonstrate why Zanzibar is known as the spice island. The Spice Tour takes place about half an hour drive from historic Stone Town. With the aid of our educated and experienced guides, you will come to know the life cycle and uses of various types of spices, tropical fruits and root crops.

This tour includes a visit to historical places such as Maruhubi Palace ruins, Kidichi Persian Bath and the highest point of Zanzibar which is 390 feet above sea level.

Dolphin Tour

The Dolphin Tour lets you swim and play with the dolphins in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. After a short drive we take a motorized boat out to sea to reach the area where the dolphin can be found. You will have several hours to swim and play with the very friendly dolphins for several hours.

You will also have the opportunity to snorkel and admire the wonderful coral reef, variety of colourful fish and other attractive marine creatures. After the beautiful day you return to the hotel for relaxation.

How to Get to Zanzibar

By air is the best way for reaching Zanzibar from outside East Africa and also from Tanzania. There are very few direct flights, but from Dar es Salaam it is possible to book a short hop flight to Zanzibar. There are frequent ferries from Dar es Salaam and private fast boats are also available.

Please ccontact World Air Travels & Tours to book your Zanzibar holidays and tours.

Mafia is an archipelago consisting of one large island and several smaller ones and lies off the coast of the Tanzanian mainland to the south of Zanzibar.

The history of Mafia Island dates back to the 8th century where it was a popular port in the trade between the Far East and East Africa. Culturally, Mafia Island has much in common with Zanzibar but it is distinct area which is governed from the mainland unlike semi-autonomous Zanzibar.

Mafia Island boasts excellent weather and is the ideal location for total relaxation in the sun, sand and sea. Mafia is the destination for those who truly wish to “get away from it all” on a real tropical island.

Mafia Island is a marine paradise for scuba and deep sea divers. The pristine coral reefs are spectacular and offer a colourful undersea adventure experience in the world’s most unique underwater seascape.

Other activities on the island include bird watching, fishing and visits to local villages, historic archaeological sites, trekking through coastal forests and coconut plantations as well as traditional boat-building yards.

How to Get to Mafia

Private plane fly to the island. Please contact World Air Travels & Tours to arrange your flights.

Where to Stay in Mafia

You have a choice between the incredible bay at Chole in the south of Mafia or the amazing beach in Bweni, in the north. Combine both Chole and Bweni for a full Mafia experience.

Mafia Island Lodge

The Mafia Island Lodge stands amidst tall palms on a sandy beach in Chole Bay, in the heart of the marine park near Utende village on the south coast of Mafia.

Rooms and Description

14 superior rooms, 18 standard rooms and 2 family rooms are set among the coconut palms with their own veranda overlooking the bay. They are all self-contained with air conditioning. Twin and double beds are available.

Among the 34 rooms there are 2 family suites, which are made out of 2 comfortable connecting rooms with one sharing bathroom, each one with its own veranda overlooking garden and sea. They may comfortably accommodate a max of 5 guests. All rooms have garden and sea view. Hot and cold water is available 24 hours a day.

Restaurant and Facilities

The main lodge has a relaxing atmosphere with a large open restaurant, bar and lounge area. Other facilities include a gift shop, laundry service. The cuisine is continental with an emphasis on seafood.  Snacks and sandwiches are also available.

Activities

Snorkelling, sailing and scuba diving. Board games, table tennis and volleyball are also available.

Kinasi Lodge

Kinasi Lodge is an intimate and lovely resort, situated in an old cashew and coconut plantation, provides a luxury stay amidst stylish décor and magnificent natural surroundings of the protected marine park on Chole Bay on Mafia Island.

Rooms and Description

The room designs, furnishings and finishes are eclectic, combining elements of coastal Tanzania, African, Indian and Arab cultures into a historically accurate “Shirazi” style that is unique to Kinasi.

All cottages are ensuite with hot solar-heated water and have ample hanging space, a desk and chair, verandah chairs and table, double chaise (for full relaxation), full-length mirror, ceiling fan for cool air and power outlets in the bathroom for hair dryers and electric shavers. The cottages have walk-in mosquito nets that cover the beds completely, and have been designed for through-ventilation and coolness in all seasons.

Restaurant and Facilities

The cuisine is a mixture of European and Eastern with an emphasis on seafood, fresh local produce, grills and home-made condiments. Swahili night is a feature each week

Facilities includes a swimming pool, pool bar & grill, library, video & satellite television.

Activities

Scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing, sailing, windsurfing, kayaks, cycling, walks & bird watching; picnic day trips, road safaris, scenic flights, sailing into history by Ngalawa or Jahazi and Kilwa day excursions are some of the activities that can be done from Kinasi lodge.

Polepole  Resort

Polepole Resort overlooks the infinite hues of blue of Chole Bay, the core of Mafia Island Marine Park. It is renowned for its great cuisine, unpretentious and laid-back atmosphere, and warm but discrete hospitality. Balancing luxury with respect for local culture and environment, it is the perfect place to relax after a safari, and the ideal base for exploring the underwater wonders of Mafia Island.

Rooms and Description

Seven bungalow suites, perfectly blended with the surrounding tropical garden, overlook the bay.

Activities

There are different types of activities or excursions:  by boat, by 4×4 car or walking and light trekking. The activities in the marine park are scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing and visiting the local villages.  Boat excursions and picnics to isolated islets, sandbanks or islands every day, according to the tide can be arranged.

Choje Mjini

The lodge is set in the baobab trees on the island of Chole at the southern tip of Mafia. A small island off a small island off a small island.

Rooms & Description

There are only eight rooms at Chole Mjini and these are perched in the baobab trees, set amongst the ruins of an early settlement from the days when Chole held a strategic position on the trade route between the mainland town of Kilwa and Zanzibar.

The rooms are simple and very open to the elements as one would expect from a luxury tree house, but the beds are comfortable and each room has beautiful views.  Above all each is unique, some with four poster beds others with a hanging bed. The bathrooms are situated on the ground floor. They are open air and simple with composting toilets and paraffin heated hot water for showering.

Restaurant and Facilities

The food is made from local ingredients, freshly caught fish, locally grown vegetables. The style is simple with a distinct local Swahili flavour and all served in a relaxed friendly atmosphere. Lounging in your room or at the bar, there is plenty to do at Chole Mjini.

Pemba Island lies approximately 80 km northeast of Zanzibar Island and is fairly close to the coastline of the Tanzania mainland. Pemba is the second largest island in the archipelago and it was referred to as “the Green Island” by the Arabic mariners in reference to the profusion of lush foliage they encountered after their journey south along the arid coastline.

The reefs and channels make for East Africa’s finest diving and Pemba Island is a highly rated game fishing destination. The Pemba’s themselves embody the coastal Swahili in their warm welcome and dignified manner.

Pemba is still the predominant global producer of cloves yielding around 70% of all the world’s cloves, but now plays its more traditional role of being an island paradise with small inter-island trade. Pemba Island also has a strong reputation as a ‘magic’ island, a centre for ju-ju traditions of medicine and wizardry.

Pemba attracts relatively few tourists, but those that do venture to this lush island are rewarded with magnificent, unspoilt natural beauty.

How to Get to Pemba Island

There are scheduled charter flights, which are available daily in the mornings and afternoons. Pemba is accessed via most airports in East Africa, via Zanzibar or Dar es Salaam. The island can also be accessed with direct local flights, with several charter airlines that operate smaller aircrafts.

Please contact World Air Travels & Tours to arrange your flights to Pemba Island.

Where to Stay in Mafia

Fundu Lagoon

Fundu Lagoon is a remote and peaceful resort, only accessible by boat. It is set on a beautiful beach in the south west of Pemba Island.

Rooms and Description

There are 18 rooms, consisting of canvas tents set under makuti (thatch) roofs on wooden decks, all with views over the sea. The rooms are equipped with large double or twin beds, mosquito nets, ceiling and standing fans, and indoor and outdoor seating areas. Each has an ensuite bathroom with fresh hot water shower, toilet and basin. They are 8 Hillside rooms (standard bungalows), 4 Beachfront rooms (standard bungalows), 1 Beach Suite, 1 Jungle Suite and a 4 Superior Suites.

Restaurant and Facilities

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the main dining area or at the jetty bar with a three course lunch and dinner, all with a choice of dishes of international standard. Some meals will be served on the white sandy beach. There are three bars, one of which is situated a third of the way along a long jetty which stretches way out into the sea.

Activities

Diving, fishing, snorkeling  and short excursions to the surroundings can be arranged.

The Manta Reef

Manta Reef Resort is elevated and crafted along an idyllic island beach situated on a cliff-face overlooking a heavenly, five km stretch of beach along the Kigomasha Peninsula on the northern tip of Pemba. The resort offers privacy, romance, adventure, and water sports on East Africa’s finest island sanctuary.

Rooms and Description

Manta Resort offers 17 stylish and comfortable rooms in various price categories:

Six newly built sea front villas. These air- conditioned villas are spacious and private, with a centred king size bed and large en-suite bathroom. A secluded sun terrace faces a spectacular ocean sunset. The newly built garden rooms are open plan makuti thatched rooms situated in our gardens. They all feature a centered king size bed covered by a mosquito net, en-suite, open plan bathroom, and a comfortable verandah to relax on. They are not air conditioned.

Two pairs make up the four Superior Garden Rooms with views of the sea between the foliage. With interconnecting doors this is an excellent choice for families or larger groups. The Superior Garden Rooms are air conditioned with a king size four poster bed and private covered terrace. Additional single bed can be added into the room, and the barazza lounger can be converted into a bed for children.

Restaurant and Facilities

The Manta Resort team will treat you to a mouth-watering variety of fresh locally caughtseafood as well as a variety of beef, chicken and vegetable dishes, some of which have a distinct Pemba touch to them. Most meals are served on the main verandah overlooking the ocean, but the pool deck and beach are also utilized for a change of scenery whenever possible.

The well-stocked bar serves drinks all day on the beach and throughout the resort. And you can sample a delicious fruit platter and snacks whenever you feel puckish.

Excursions

There are different excursion that can be arranged from here including snorkeling, big game fishing, dolphins and whale watching, the sandbanks, kayaking; bird watching and diving round the untouched coral reef surrounding the entire island. They also range from walks to local villagers to guided tours through the ancient Ngezi Forest to searching for the endemic Pemba Flying Fox.

Bagamoyo was once one of the most important dhow ports along the East African coast and the terminus of the trade caravan route linking Lake Tanganyika with the Indian Ocean. Slaves, ivory, salt and copra were unloaded here before being shipped to Zanzibar and elsewhere. In 1868 missionaries established Freedom Village at Bagamoyo as a shelter for ransomed slaves and for the remainder of the century the town served as an important way station for missionaries traveling from Zanzibar to the country’s interior.

Many European explorers, including Burton, Stanley and Livingstone began and ended their trips here. From 1887 to 1891, Bagamoyo was the capital of German East Africa and 1888 it was the site of the first major uprising against the colonial government. When the capital was transferred to Dar es Salaam in 1891, the town rapidly lost its significance and almost forgotten.

Today, Bagamoyo is a sleepy place (recovering slowly due to tourism industry expansion) and many of its buildings are crumpling in ruins but with extra-ordinary attractive beaches.

Please contact World Air Travels & Tours to arrange your holiday.

The Roman Catholic Museum

North of Bagamoyo town, there is an interesting museum run by a Catholic church. The museum has interesting displays on the history of Bagamoyo and a section of some of the European explorers. The museum curator maintains an amicable atmosphere by allowing good visitors register their names in the museum “friends’ book” and give them cards with “friends’ number” to be used in any future correspondence with the museum.

Admission is free but donation will be appreciated. On the same compound is the chapel where Livingstone’s body was laid before being taken to Zanzibar town en route to Westminster Abbey. The Catholic mission is as old as the establishment of freedom village by France in 1868 and the oldest mission in Tanzania. Scattered around town are some carved doors and various disrepair buildings dating back from the German colonial era.

The Bagamoyo Art College

About half a kilometer south of Bagamoyo along the road to Dar es Salaam is “Chuo cha Sanaa” which translates to art college. This is a well-known theatre and arts college. There are performances of traditional dancing and drumming especially when the school is session.

The Kaole Ruins

The Kaole Ruins include the remains of an oldest mosque in East Africa dating from the 13th Century and gravestones estimated to date from the 15th Century, are situated about 5 km south of Bagamoyo along the beach. This mosque was built when Kaole was an important Arabic trading post, long before Bagamoyo had assumed any significance.

Hanging Place

This was a place used by the German colonial government to hang to death the Africans who refused to follow the colonial rules in the late eighteen century. During the German rule Bagamoyo was a capital city of Tanzania.

Pangani is a small town on the northern coast of Tanzania. Until recently this beautiful stretch of the mainland coast attracted very few international travellers, but better flight connections and the emergence of some decent lodges has seen the area emerge as a more laid back and lower cost alternative to other beach destinations. The town is about 50 km from Tanga town by road.

Like other coastal towns of Tanzania, Pangani has more of historical buildings, plantations and factories established by Arabs, Germans and British. Unlike Zanzibar and Dar-es-Salaam, Pangani is less visited and this makes it a unique place for a calm tour where one will enjoy clean water and white sand beaches.

History has it that Pangani was a port/center for shipping slaves and ivory to the Arabian and European countries; a trade started by Arabs explorers, and there after dominated by Germans and British. The history of the town goes back up to 6th century. The most interesting area of town is within three blocks of the river, where one can see some carved doorways and buildings from the German colonial era.

One of the main attractions is the Pangani River, which hosts diverse birdlife, as well as population of crocodiles and other animals. If you are interested in visiting the island, please contact  us to arrange for a tour.

Please contact World Air Travels & Tours to book your beach holiday.

Where to Stay

The Tides

The Tides Lodge is located on a magnificent beach and nestled in a secluded and idyllic stretch of the Tanzanian coast.

Rooms and Description

The stunning ‘Upepo’ Suite is a large house on 2 levels. It has an up-stairs wooden decked bedroom and balcony, with commanding views over the Indian Ocean.

The bedroom is very spacious with a King Size Zanzibar bed positioned in the middle so guests can see the Ocean from the bed. There is a sofa and coffee table in the bedroom.

The balcony is huge with impressive views of the Indian Ocean and our lovely gardens. A perfect place for honeymooners to relax over a glass of bubbly in complete privacy.

Downstairs is equally impressive with a very large living space and comfortable seating area. This can be made into 2 single beds for children making it a great house for families giving the parents some privacy up-stairs in their own room.

The bathroom is also situated downstairs and is also very spacious and well appointed.

With two large double bedrooms, central bathroom and large verandah lies the Beachfront family house ‘Hibiscus’.7 beach front cottages. The cottages are bright and breezy. They are luxurious yet rustic, with a private verandah and sunbathing area.

Restaurant and Facilities

The bar and restaurant are situated overlooking the Indian Ocean. Built entirely by our own carpenters they are constructed from locally sourced, natural materials. Special dietary requirements can be catered for.

There is a curio shop offering clothes, carvings and paintings. Other facilities include massage parlour, wireless internet and laundry service.

Activities

Snorkelling, scuba diving, reef fishing trips, kayaking, dhow Sailing, bicycle hire and cultural tour of Pangani.